Square Enix CEO: Final Fantasy "has been greatly damaged"

During a Tokyo press conference earlier today, Square Enix CEO Yoichi Wada admitted that the overwhelmingly critical response to the PC release of Final Fantasy XIV means that "the Final Fantasybrand has been greatly damaged."
Last December, the publisher delayed the planned March release of Final Fantasy XIV for PS3 while it ironed out the PC version's numerous kinks. Producer Hiromichi Tanaka stood down and was replaced by Naoki Yoshida, and the game's free trial period was extended until it was was in an acceptable state.
According to Wada, the repair job has taken Square Enix right back to the drawing board. "We'll continue with our reform work, which basically amounts to fully redoing the game," he said, "and hope to revive the FFXIV that should have been released."
Wada also moved to reassure users that the announcement ofDragon Quest X, an online title for Wii and Wii U, did not mean that all future games in the series would be online. "We're not making them all online," he said. "We'll continue with a variety of developments, online included."